A Storm of Flame
by Meyneth24
Summary: It was said that the trial was made to weed out the weak ones, and the crown Princess knew that it would win her approval. But it is always easier to say then to do.
1. Chapter 1

"I see that you have made your choice"

Yuel nodded, her head bowed in respect

"It's true" Caius said, getting up from the throne and walking towards Yuel "Being able to complete this task would win you the love of the people, no one would doubt your claim to the throne then." He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I will be able to give you money, and a pair of chocobos" He paused, "Now before you ask, the other Chocobo is for your guardian."

"You will be allowed one other person," He continued not giving her any time to object. "With equal or lesser strength than you, to help. I have already selected this person, you will meet him after this meeting, but don't get attached."

"I understand" Yuel said, "I'm surprised that you're letting me go"

"If there was any other way," Caius responded, "Or if we had more time, but I've heard about the fractions and we'll need a strong leader to reunite Ocria. I also feel that This trial will make you all the more stronger."

"Of course" Yuel said, "I'll try not to disappoint you"

"I know you won't, Caius stated "You are dismissed"

* * *

It felt like a dream, like it wasn't really happening, She was walking down the main hallway, which was elegantly decorated with glowing crystals. She was leaving the city of Glassrock, named for the out cropping of crystals, kept and maintained by the local Fal'cie, Carblenicle. It was a beautiful town, but she did have a desire to see the world. Yuel did wish that it was under better circumstances.

She took a deep breath and opened the door at the end of the hallway. he stepped into the next room. Aside from the two guards, there were two red chocobos, one of the castles elite, Nabaat, looking over what appeared to be supplies, and a guy sitting in on a barrel. She assumed that he was to be her guardian. Knowing this she took a second to look him over. He was wearing a blue shirt, brown pants, black boots and a scarf. Brown hair and blue eyes as well.

"Ah," Nabaat did a slight bow,"You have arrived. This is Noel, he is to protect you during this trial." At the mention of his name, Noel Jumped off the barrel and walked over to them.

"He's from the northern isles" Nabaat continued,"one of the natural magic users, His highness believes that he will be of use to you. Anyway, I have packed you plenty of gil, two tents sleeping bags, along with food and water, but you'll have to stock up on those sometime. And most importantly I have the map with the marks on them right here." She held out the rolled up paper, and Yuel took it. With that she went over to the Chocobos and started loading them up.

"Hello," Noel said offering his hand to Yuel, "I'm here to make sure everything goes smoothly"

"I'm aware," Yeul said," But I do have a question for you, How and why did you come to help me?"

"That's simple," Noel replied, "I was know for being good at killing things and a large sum of money was offered if I make sure you come back safety"

"So you're basically a mercenary." Yuel paused, "How do I know you won't sell me out?"

Before Noel had a chance to object Nabaat spoke up.

"The chocobos are ready," She said, "It's time to go"

Yuel nodded and walked over to a rack and pulled off one of the black cloaks. She tossed another one to Noel.

"For Glassrock we'll have to keep a low profile,"She pulled the cloak over her shirt and pants and walked over to a shelf. "once we get away from the capital it won't be necessary"

She reached onto the shelf and pulled down a rapier. She had taken many fencing lessons, and it was the weapon she had the most aptitude for.

"I assume you have your own weapons?" she turned towards Noel, and he nodded.

"It's over there," He pointed to the weirdest sword Yuel had ever seen. It was two swords, a small yellow stabbing sword and a large red slashing sword. Noel had walked over to the sword and picked it up, then pulled the coat on. Yuel walked over one off the chocobos and climbed on. Noel made his way over and hopped on his. She cursed her small height. Nabaat opened the door and they were off.


	2. Chapter 2

"So tell me princess," Noel said, "Why are you doing this anyway?"

"Please, Just call me Yuel," Yuel paused "Princess will draw to much attention."

They had made it out of Glassrock with out a hitch. They did leave before dawn. The sun was just now creeping over the mountains to the east. They had their backs to The mountains, and were heading into the grasslands. Most of the crystals had thinned out by now. In front of them was green grass as far as the eye could see. They were still using the cloaks, Yuel wanted to wait unit they were farer away from the capital.

"Are you not aware of the origin of my birth?" Yuel spoke.

"Eh," Noel said. "We're pretty far away in the isles, politics aren't a common subject there."

"Well I'm not of royal birth," Yuel said "I was adopted by my father when I was two years old. Father never took a wife or had any other kids. He thought that birth didn't mater, what you do with life did."

"So, what's the problem?" Noel interrupted.

"There are a lot of people that don't think that way. " She sighed, "They think that I have no claim to the throne, that I'm nothing, but I'll show them!"

"You're doing all this just to prove some people wrong?" Noel said

"I wish it was just a few people," Yuel added "But it's a lot, they've threatened the state, and have formed a group. Most of what they have done is peaceful, but there have been whispers of more. If I'm able to complete the ceremony I would gain the approval and this would end. "

"Well, I know that I can't complete this ceremony, but I'll be sure to get you there!" Noel said.

"Because if you don't, you don't get paid." Yuel Stated.

"Hey!" Noel said, "I'm just glad to be out of Glassrock, That place gives me the creeps."

"Why?" Yuel asked, "I've found it quite lovely, the crystals are beautiful!"

"That's just it!" Noel said, "Haw many of those crystals used to be people?"

"Few if any," Yuel answered, "L'cie that compete their Focus retain their human shape when turned into crystal, and Carbuncle hasn't made anyone into a L'cie in a long time, since it's main purpose is to protect Glassrock from attack. In its down time it likes making Crystals to decorate."

"Well," Noel still looked uncertain but changed the subject anyway. "The closest mark is near Lerwick, We'll be near the town by night fall. We have plenty of Gil, so I was hoping that we could spend the night there, and do the ritual in the morning.

Yuel nodded. They rode for the rest of the day in silence. Not much happened, sometimes they passed other travelers and a caravan or two, but no one recognized them. They had taken the road less traveled for this very reason.

* * *

The town of Lerwick was a small town, but they did have a thriving flower business. People came from all over to see and buy rare and exotic flowers. They were walking down the main street of the town, which had arches of flowers crossing it, along with glowing flowers and trees that illumined the night with a blue glow.

"You people have such fancy ways of lighting things up," Noel said, "On the isles we use good old fire, not crystals or flowers."

"Well," Yuel replied, "Fire needs to be refueled a lot more then crystals or glowing flowers. I've never seen so many of these flowers before, Father was only able to bring me one or two of them."

"Don't tell me that you were never allowed to leave the castle?" Noel asked.

"Nonsense," Yuel huffed, "I left the castle plenty, "I just never left glass rock."

"Honesty," Noel said, "I've never left the isles until now, never had a reason too. " Noel pulled his Chocobo to a stop.

"Here's the inn." They had reached a large two-story building made out of wood. Like everything else in this town, it had carvings of flowers coving the building. A half of the bottom of the building had been made into a stable meet to hold chocobos. Noel jumped off of his Chocobo.

"I'll take the chocobos," Noel walked over to Yuel's Chocobo, "You go and get the room."

Yuel sided off of her Chocobo and walked over to the inn.

The inn was a cozy place, a desk was across from the door, a women and a Moogle was behind it. There was a table, with a few chairs around it. A warm fire was burning in a fireplace, and a hallway next to some stairs the may lead to the rooms.

"Hello!" The Women behind the desk said, as Yuel walked over to her, "I'm _Sarala_

And this Is Mugu." She pointed to the Moogle.

"What can I do for ya?" She asked.

"I need a room." Yuel said.

"Most people do." _Sarala_ continued "What kind of room do you need?

"Two Beds Please," Yuel Paused, "My friend is taking out Chocobos to your Stable do I need to do anything for them?"

"What do they look like?" Mugu asked

"Red," Yuel Replied

"Red got it!" Mugu started writing in a book. "And your name?"

"Yuel," She replied without thinking.

"And done!" Mugu said. "Just pay Sarala for me, and your Chocobos will be taken care off!"

Yuel handed over the Gil, and took the room key. They would be on the second floor. She walked up the stairs and found the room. It was simple. Two beds, a window and a bathroom with a sink, powered by magic, She sat on one of the beds and looked out the window. It was late and not much was going on outside, a knock echoed on the door, and she walked over to it.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"It's me," Noels Voice came through. She opened the door and let him in. He was carrying the bags from the chocobos.

"Don't tell me that you knocked on every door." Yuel said.

"Nah," Noel replied " I asked the nice lady at the counter if they had seen a shady girl come by."

"I'm not shady!" Yuel objected, and then remembered that she was wearing the cloak. She pulled it off in a huff and turned towards him.

"Anyway," She continued. "Getting to the sanction tomorrow will be easy. We have control and have explored he area, shouldn't be any trouble for you. We can just walk there"

"Well I'm tired," Noel, said, "I'm going to bed." With that he fell onto a bed climbed under the blanket and started snoring.

Yuel decided that she should do the same.

* * *

Morning came too fast for Noel.

"Just five more minutes" He mumbled, only to have the blanket pulled from over him. "Hey!"

"Wake up!" Yuel almost yelled, "The sooner we do this the sooner this will be over."

Noel Grumbled. But climbed out of the bed regardless. A plate of eggs and toast was pushed in front of his face.

"I got breakfast from the innkeeper while you were snoozing!" Yuel continued. "Now eat and we can go!"

Noel mumbled something that almost sounded like a thanks, while Yuel was going over their plan.

"We'll walk to the sanctum." She explained. "I've already talked to the innkeeper, they've agreed to watch the Chocobos and our room."

"Alright" Noel and finished his food, "Let's get going!" He picked up his swords and headed towards the door.

"Hey wait!" Yuel said as she grabbed her rapier and chased after him, "You don't even know where it is!"

It was a short walk to the Sanctum. They reached a hallway that had been cut out of the ground. Two Guards were standing in front of it. A few worlds from Yuel and they were out of the way. The hallway when from dirt to stone and after a short time they had reached a door that had the royal symbol on it. Yuel put her hand to the boor and whispered something. The door creaked and opened for them to pass though. Ahead of them was darkness.

As soon as Yuel stepped though the place lit up. Before them was a raised platform with stairs leading up to it. Countless carvings were on the wall and on the platform. At points around the room there was spheres of light of all different colors.

"Okay," Yuel said. "This I have to do alone, so stand back."

She walked up the stairs and on to the center of the platform. The lights flickered and turned orange, and all the carving lit up. Pain jolted though her, like she was on fire. She screamed and she fell to her knees. She heard her name and thud. She only saw red. Then the red became shapes, She saw a two people, but it was all fuzzy, they were saying something, but she could not understand them. They turned to look at her and said something else. One of them shook their head, and they were engulfed in red. The read faded and she was back in the chamber.

She was still on her knees but she felt like her energy had been drained. The room had returned to its normal state. Suddenly she felt Noel's arms around her.

"Hey," He said, sounding worried. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Yuel replied, Noel Helped her up.

"Was that always there?" He pointed to her right hand. She looked at it to find that a small wing hand been etched into her flesh.

"No, It mush be part of the ceremony," She paused, "Proof, that I did it." She opened up her palm, having a weird feeling that she should. In a second a small flame appeared.

"Magic Noel Whispered," It gave you magic."

Yuel Just stared at the flame, not sure what to do.


	3. Chapter 3

The walk back to the inn was quiet. Nethe of them said much, Yuel was in some kind of shock while Noel didn't say anything, not wanting to upset her. Dusk fell on the forrest that they were walking though.

"How far are we from the town," Yeul questioned.

"Hmm," Noel looked at the map he was carrying. "We should be there in about fifteen minutes"

"Good," She Yawned "It's been a busy day."

"That feels like an understatement," Noel stated, "Stuff did happen though."

Yuel Chucked and yawned once again.

"Well Well Well, What do we have here?"

"Show yourself!" Noel yelled as he Pushed Yeul behind him. He Drew his swords and pointed the large one towards where the voice was coming from.

"Aren't you two cute," This time the voice came from a tree behind Noel, he whirled around to face the voice time.

"You don't know who you're dealing with!" Now it was Yeul's turn to shout.

"Ohohoho," the voice replied "I know exactly who you are, I think you should be asking me the same." The tree that was to the left to Noel rustled and a person jumped out of it. The Person was covered from head to toe in black, Black pants, black jacket, with it's hood covering his hair. The only non black part was a bronze mask that had a eye slits

" I Must say, getting to meet the crown princess herself is quite the honor," He paused "Now let's see if you're the real deal!" The man drew two small Daggers and tossed one at Noel. Noel hit the floor and pulled Yeul Down to the ground with him. The dagger invented itself into a tree behind them.

Noel Helped Yeul up while the masked man walked over to the stuck dagger and pulled it out. He dusted the wood dust off.

"So you can dodge, but show me what you're really about!" In a blink he Rushed Noel with both Daggers. Noel managed to raise his swords time. He held the masked man at a stand still for a few seconds before he sent a blast of wind as he pushed against him. The Masked man was pushed back and knocked his back against a tree.

"This is your Chance," Noel yelled at Yuel,"Run!"

Yeul Stayed right where she was, It was like she was glued to the spot, and no force or common sense could force her to move.

"Enough!" the man yelled, he raised his hand and it started sparking. A bolt of lighting emerged and raced towards Noel. It collided with Noel and he went flying. He landed on a bush that was crushed under his weight. The masked man approached and raised his Dagger.

"Shame you Failed, Pretty B-"

"No!" Yuel Yelled and she opened her palm and sent a fireball towards the masked man, It hit him flat in the back, but it didn't even singe the clothes that he was wearing.

"Heh," The masked man turned and face Yeul, " That's more like it! You both get to live, for today," With that he jumped up into the nearest tree and vanished.

"Hey Yeul" Noel mutters, "thank you." He then slumped down and lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

Yeul kneeled down over Noel. He was still breathing, which was a good thing, a very good thing. Yeul tried not to think about death, it was a part of life, but that didn't mean that she wanted to be responsible for harming anyone.

 _IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY DIED_

Yeul Shook her head, trying to clear her mind. What was that? Being a ruler meant that she would be playing with lives, that people could be hurt. That _She_ would be the one to decide who lived and who died, if it came to that. She was jolted out of her thoughts when Noel moved.

Well, "moved" was a stretch. It was more like a twitch. That lead to her next problem. As much as she wished it wasn't true she knew that in no way did she have the physical strength to pick him up, much less get him to town. She could try dragging him, but that could make any possible injuries worst.

She crossed her arms and sighed she really didn't want to spend the night in the middle of nowhere. She heard a brook of in the distance. That was when she got an idea.

* * *

Noel Wished that he could have said that he was brave, that he stopped the bad guys and that even his dreams were cool. It was spooky, no that wasn't the right word, it was eerie. A dark cave, or was it a hallway? Covered in Mist, or was it smoke? Everyone was gone, or had there never been anyone there at all?

This place made his head spin.

Regardless there was floor (or was it ceiling?) in fount of him. Behind him there was nothing, but inky darkness. Trendless of it curled and creeped towards him. Almost if to remind him, there is no going back.

Even worst was if he stopped moving, he could hear something in lieu of his footsteps a steady stomp or was it a crunch? Whatever he was getting tired of this place. He started running down the hall, it seemed to shift from grey stone to wood, to a red carpet, the carpet seemed to last the longest, until the hallway opened up into a large room (or cavern? He had stopped caring at this point.)

It had a checkered board floor, with a table a lone chair sitting at it. It was grand chair, more like a throne really. Unlike the rest of the place it was well light, despite there not being any seeable light source. Noel looked around, scanning the room any hints, any clues. He almost jumped when he looked back to the chair.

A woman was sitting there, if Noel had to guess He'll have to say that she was in her thirties. She was dress from head to toe in purple from her shoes to her lipstick. She was wearing her blue hair up in a bun and had her hands resting on the table.

"Hello Noel," She said with a smile. That smile, it made him feel warm and safe like despite what he had travel though to get here, it would all be okay. It remined him of his own mom, and how she took care of him.

He tried to open his mouth to say something else, to at the very least be polite to the lady. But he couldn't move, his eyes stayed locked on the lady. He was confused why was this happening?

"Oh my," The women almost looked sorrowful, "Looks like our first meeting has come to an end."

Cold and wet, water. It was at his feet, no his legs. It was filing up the whole room. He could move again, the lady, the table, the chair, it was all gone. Only darkness remained. He did the only thing he could.

He screamed.

* * *

Yeul would not say that she had gotten yelled at a lot. Then again Noel hadn't really yelled as much as scream for dear life. He had bolted straight up after the scream and was now painting heavily.

 _I can't wait to see what you'll do_

"I'm sorry," Yeul said as she kneeled down to here he was sitting. "I was hoping that it would wake you up, but I didn't mean to scare you." There was one of their canteens lying limp in her hands. It took him a second to notice that he was wet, there was water dripping down from his head onto the rest of him. It took him a second to connect the dots and to remember what had happened.

"Anyway," Yeul continued "I would like to sleep in a bed before anything else can happen to us."

"Yes," Noel agreed, "I need to think anyway."

* * *

 **I feel Like I'm improving! Thanks for everyone that has so much as clicked on this story!**

 **Will Noel and Yeul Finally get to a town? Tune in in six months to find out!(let's hope for sooner tho!)**

 **Also I might go back and rewrite chapters 1-3, not to change any major points, just to add details and make it better! let me know what you think!**


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